


Bedknobs and Broomsticks - Sirius Black - 1 - Wattpad

by orphan_account



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-10-16
Updated: 2016-10-24
Packaged: 2018-08-22 20:48:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 7,252
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8300491
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: In which a messy little redhead helps Sirius Black determine the difference between 'all students must remain in bed after curfew' and 'all students must remain in their dormitories after curfew'.





	1. One

**Sirius**  
With me being in Gryffindor and everything, I'd have expected McGonagall to have let me off lightly, just this once. It wasn't as if she'd caught me terrorising Filch, or even Snivellus. All I'd done was break curfew. For the seventh time. This week. I'd barely even done anything wrong; even James agreed with me (but, in hindsight, he was probably just upset that I was missing quidditch practise), and Remus did this all the time without getting into trouble. Absolutely outrageous. I groaned and tapped my foot on the little bar at the bottom of the stool McGonagall had forced me to sit on. I swore to myself that this was child abuse, as I took note of the fact that the girl next to me couldn't even reach the bar at the bottom of her stool. If she was in sixth year, my bollocks were purple. I watched as she scrawled all students must remain in bed after curfew, in her oddly messy (for a girl, anyway) print. Directly after thinking how strange her muddled handwriting was, I realised that it matched her persona perfectly. The ginger braids in her hair looked as though they'd been put in three days ago and slept on, though I'd known for a fact that she'd had to have put them in this morning, because they weren't there at midnight, and her black and yellow tie wasn't even knotted, her robes falling off of one shoulder and her collar more skewed than my own after waking up far too early to function. For a girl with a very collected kind of name, she wasn't a very collected kind of person.

  
Marie Stewart finished her lines at least seven and a half minutes before I'd even bothered to start, more interested in the walls and the fact that my heels didn't quite reach the floor. It suddenly occurred to me how annoying being short really must have been; Marie's toes didn't even reach the bar, let alone the floor. Her feet were just... swinging there. "Sirius, you do know she'll check these, right?" She spoke as if she assumed I was going to laugh at her for trying to address me. I shook my head and attempted to lean into a backrest that wasn't there, stumbling over the back of my pathetic wooden stool and steadying myself on the desk behind me. I raised my eyes to Marie's face, expecting to see her laughing, but her left arm was frozen between as if she'd reached for me, but thought better of it. "Are you alright?"  
"I'm fine. Is your hand going to be alright?" I asked, nodding my head towards her fingers, where a small blister was forming. "You've got yourself a blister writing lines that never needed to be done. She'll wander in in approximately ten minutes and say 'I hope to never have to see you in here again. You may go.' She doesn't care."   
"Really?"  
"No, I'm sitting here not having written my lines like a cabbage because I fancy her and want to do everything possible to get more detentions," I said, watching Marie push stray curls out of her face, with her whole tiny hand, like a child would. A small smile played on her mouth as she toyed with the corner of her parchment, causing it to roll up by itself and refuse to lay flat. "I don't think you're her type," She told me, her eyes smiling but her mouth remaining emotionless. My eyes widened in false shock, my lips turning to a smirk as I brushed tendrils out of my eyes. James had been urging me to have a hair cut for months, but I hadn't found the time. Or effort. Or motivation. "Now, what makes you say that?"  
"Miss Stewart is quite correct, Mr Black. You are most definitely not my type. Have you finished your lines?"  
"Of course, Professor," I said, grinning up at her, proud of my lack of handiwork, glancing down at my blank parchment and waiting for her to dismiss us. Instead of her usual spiel, Professor McGonagall simply smiled down at Marie and said, "You may go, dear. Do try to lead yourself away from Mr Black's... influence."  
"Influence?!" I cried, placing my hand on the desk. "What do you mean influence?!"  
"From what I've seen, Marie is an excellent student. You, on the other hand, have failed to even produce twenty lines. I'll see you again tomorrow at five o'clock."  
"At night, right?"  
"In the morning, Mr Black!"

  
**Marie**  
Watching Sirius' face fall as I rolled up my parchment, softly placing it on McGonagall's desk, had been much more amusing than watching him fall into the black lake and struggle to climb out by himself. He'd left a small trail of puddles, ultimately leading McGonagall straight to us, near the Hufflepuff common room. That's what had gotten us into this mess. "Did you hear that?!" Sirius cried, collecting his ink and quill from the desk as McGonagall left the room. I checked my watch, absentmindedly, not actually paying attention to the time. It was more of a habit than a genuine desire to know what time it was. "Five in the morning! Child abuse!"  
"I told you to do your lines..."  
"Excuse me, you swine. Don't try to get yourself out of this."  
"Out of what?!"  
"You're coming with me!" He exclaimed, flailing his arms as he shut the door behind us on our way out. I'd not known him long, but this melodrama was all very new. I rolled my eyes and rubbed the end of my braid between my thumb and forefinger, subconsciously. I knew it would only make my hair greasy, but I wasn't paying enough attention to stop myself. "She said I was free! I'm not the idiot in question."  
"I'm holding you one hundred percent accountable for how tired I'm going to be tomorrow morning. James is going to be distraught!"   
"Distraught about what?" Mr James Potter himself answered, rounding the corner and nearly walking into me, probably not having seen me until he stepped back to look at us. Sirius grabbed James' hands and raised them to his chest, his face mimicking that of great trauma. "She's given me another detention, Sirius. Another one!"


	2. Two

Marie  
Looking back, my friends weren't exactly a riot, if you know what I'm getting at. Being in Hufflepuff, we weren't really meant to be. Stereotypically, we were supposed to be quite and alienated. Introverted. Boring. Clumsy. Not so clever. Cowardly. While, for some, that may have been true, I believed that being a Hufflepuff was more about patience and perseverance and a whole lot of loyalty... three things that my best friend one hundred percent lacked. Laura Tewitt and her lack of patience wore me thin, sometimes, grinding me down to my last nerve. "We have been here for three whole minutes. I'm hungry," She wined, sitting next to me in the Great Hall. I could never perceive why people would sit across from their friends in the Hall. It was such a trek to get around both sides and, by the time you'd gotten there, the seat had probably been nicked anyway. Sitting in a line was just more convenient for everyone. "Oh no, not three whole minutes!"  
"I'm glad you understand my distress," Laura sighed, leaning her elbow on the table and placing her left cheek in the palm of her hand, so that she was facing me properly without having to crane her entire body. "You know, I don't even understand the meals here. They're so... extravagant! What if I wanted couscous? Or just soup?"  
"Too late. You're having roast beef and Yorkshire pudding. From the looks of things, you're not having gravy with it, either," I said, watching the first years jump on the gravy the second the food appeared on the table in front of them. They'd clearly learned quicker than we had that once it's gone, you're probably going hungry. "This is ludicrous!" She cried, throwing her arms in the air, nearly gouging out a second year's eye. A few Gryffindor students glanced our way, one particular boy tossing me a smirk, not meant to be malicious. "What are you looking at?" Laura followed my line of sight with her finger and immediately grabbed my face with both of her hands. I could only imagine the look on my face. "Why is Sirius Black smirking at you?!"  
"Who's Sirius Black?" I murmured, casting my eyes down. She'd known I'd had a detention the night before, but I obviously hadn't told her that it had been for gallivanting around the castle with a well known 'prankster'. What had really happened was that I'd been sitting by the black lake, perfectly fine by myself. Granted it was dark, and I wasn't overly fond of the darkness upon learning exactly what was out there (The Dark Lord, for example... and maybe spiders, too), but I was one hundred percent capable of getting myself back to the castle without crying... in the day time. Sirius had shown up in all of his heroic stupor, announcing that he was going to save me, directly before he fell into the lake and wailed for help, assuming that mermaids were going to attack ('get me out before they eat me!' - direct quote from the man himself) him. While it gave me a good giggle, it also left a trail of water for McGonagall to follow right to us, landing us both in worse places than the black lake.   
Probably in response to Laura's outburst, Sirius Black sauntered away from his friends, allowing his unruly waves to fall into his face. He desperately needed a haircut. "Not planning on getting yourself stuck under a tree again tonight, are you Stewart?" I looked up at him from my seat, feeling even smaller next to him. Standing at approximately 5'9", maybe more, Sirius wasn't the tallest boy I'd ever spoken to but he had a good nine inches or so on me, and that was while standing. Laura looked befuddled. "Not planning on falling in any lakes again tonight, are you Black?"  
"Touché. Wouldn't want to be caught out of our dorms again."  
"Technically, we were in trouble for being out of bed. There was nothing to do with being out of our dorms."

  
Sirius  
While her best friend stood there, gaping as if she'd been told this tremendous lie for the last seven years of her life, I realised that Marie Stewart was a genius. Hufflepuff or not, this girl knew her stuff and she was exactly what a band of miscreants like my friends needed. She was like... Remus. But a girl. McGonagall loved her! I refuse to believe she'd have been punished for staying out late if it had been reported by a prefect, rather than being caught by a Professor, under the grounds that 'oh, no, not Marie Stewart! She's a lovely little girl! She'd never do such a thing.' It made me want to puke but I smiled, nonetheless, and crouched a little to speak to her properly. "How would you feel about meeting me outside the Gryffindor common room tonight after hours?"  
"Do you honestly think that I'm willing to climb all of those stairs? Moving stairs, no less. I'd get lost!"  
"She'd..." The friend muttered, dazed as if she'd been drugged, "She'd get lost..."  
"Fine. Meet me outside your common room at ten thirty. I could do with a snack, anyway."  
"What are we doing?"  
"Obeying the rules."

  
Marie  
Considering meeting him outside of the common room at 10:30, Sirius' idea of 'obligation' was a little bit skewed. "Obeying the rules?" Laura wailed, as Sirius sauntered away from our table, small second year girls gaping after him like lost puppies. I shrugged and sipped on my specially requested water; who in their right minds would serve children pumpkin juice? If Sirius thought detentions were child abuse, I wonder what he'd make of this nonsense. "You're not going."  
"I am going."  
"What do you mean I am going?!"  
"Exactly what I said. I'm meeting Sirius Black outside the common room at half past ten tonight. No one tells any professors."  
A couple of hours later, I found myself stressing over whether or not I should stay in my uniform or change into my pyjamas to give off the impressions that I didn't care what Sirius Black thought of me. I'd only met him a couple of days prior, after all. Was he bringing his friends? Did my hair need to be presentable. On the odd occasion, my hair didn't look like that of a troll's and tonight was definitely not one of those occasions. I pulled out my braids, only to put them back in again, messier than the first time, deciding that my uniform would be much too uncomfortable to cause shenanigans with Sirius; how would I make it back to the common room in time, without having been caught wearing 'sensible' shoes? I much preferred no shoes at all.  
As promised, Sirius Black was directly outside the Hufflepuff common room at exactly half past ten at night, bearing the most ridiculous form of transport going. "Sirius, what on earth is going on?" I asked, exasperatedly, glancing at his little army of impressed hooligans. James Potter looked the most proud, Remus Lupin following closely behind. Peter Pettigrew, on the other hand, seemed as though he'd done it because they had and following them was just what he did. "Obeying the rules." I raised my left eyebrow, as I was fully incapable of raising my right one, and pursed my lips ever so slightly. "The rules specifically state that students must remain in bed after ten o'clock at night." The rules said absolutely nothing about being out of the dormitories, as long as you were in bed, of which all four boys were perfectly compliant of.

  
Sirius  
I was glad I'd been as vague as I was, in explaining to Marie what we were actually going to do. The little befuddled look of amazement on her tiny face was astoundingly amusing. Little strands or hairs fell into her eyes as only her left eyebrow raised itself, the right completely rebelling against it. I was as shocked as she'd been just then when she'd agreed to climb into bed with me; not exactly in the context that I was used to, but I supposed it was a start. "Come on, Stewart," I'd said, grinning at her, only now noticing just how skinny her legs were; it wasn't attractive, in any way. It was kind of scary how fragile and small it made her seem - it made me want to give her a hug. "What do you mean?"  
"Get in!"  
"Your bed?!"  
"No, Remus' bed. Yes, my bed you tosspot!"   
We only made it up the hallway in our genius floating beds before we ran into McGonagall or, rather she ran into us. "Boys. Miss Stewart." She said, her face sterner than the last time she'd caught us. Although, she hadn't really caught us. Not this time. Technically, we hadn't done anything wrong. Technically. "I expect to see all five of you in detention tomorrow. Five o'clock."  
"In the-"  
"Yes, in the morning, Mr Black!"  
"But we're not breaking the rules!"  
"You are all out of your dormitories after curfew. Now, off to bed! All of you!"  
"Technically, Professor," I said, a small grin appearing on my face, "The rule actually states that all students must be in bed by ten thirty, not that we have to stay in our dormitories. None of us have broken any rules here."  
"Ah, but is Miss Stewart in her own bed, Mr Black? No, she is not. She is in yours, which breaks the rule of male and female students sharing beds, does it not?" It did. Marie gulped me, gripping my quilt cover slightly. She'd reacted like this the first time, too; I shouldn't have brought her along. Conflict and confrontation seemed to scare her. I'd caused her unrest. "Yes, Professor, but technical-"  
"Technically, Mr Black, you are breaking the rules. Peter, Remus and James, you are excused. Do not let this happen again. I expect better of my Gryffindor students. Sirius and Marie, however, I expect to see bright and early tomorrow morning."


	3. Three

Sirius  
Marie and I had agreed to meet outside of the Hufflepuff common room before our detention this morning. I let her believe that it was because she'd get lost on the stairs, but really I wanted to nick a snack from the elves before we left. How could someone expect me to go to a five a.m. detention with an empty stomach? Outrageous. The barrels moved themselves as if they'd rather nobody noticed and little Marie Stewart stepped out from the earthy passage. I'd hate walking through there. Disgusting. I noticed, immediately, that she wasn't wearing her robes and made a note to make sure she wasn't too cold later. Who in their right mind would neglect their robes this early on an October morning _in a castle_? I smiled as brightly as I could have this early in the morning and watched Marie stumble over her untied shoelaces. They weren't even half tied, in that lazy kind of way that one side of the bow had been completed and the other side was just a small loose string. She had magic and chose to leave her shoes untied. Placing herself in front of me, I felt a lot taller than I actually was and I was actually grateful for how unhealthily slim she was, however much it may have upset me the first time I'd noticed it and, for the second time, I realised that her tie wasn't knotted at all.

  
Outside of McGonagall's classroom, I felt as though Marie wasn't as presentable as she could be, her shirt lazily tucked in, her collar skewed and her tie still not knotted. She'd even taken her shoes off, which I found extraordinarily odd (even for a Hufflepuff). Once again, her hair looked like it had been slept on, but it was neater than it had been yesterday so there was no way it could have been. I smiled to myself, just looking at this little ball of mess in front of me, pushing the door open and pulling her inside before she could pick up on my staring; James would be disappointed. "Sirius. Marie. You're late."  
"What do you mean we're late?!"  
"Exactly what I said, Mr Black. Late!" I simply groaned and pulled out a stool from under my usual desk. I considered actually apologising and doing my lines, for the sake of avoiding an argument, but chose to observe Marie while she did hers, instead. I'd only known her for a couple of days, since the night she couldn't get herself back into the castle because she was too scared to walk back alone. She'd almost found out that I was an animagus, and Remus absolutely went to town on me about how irresponsible it was of me and how I needed to be more careful. It was just the five of us in our group for a reason. The important thing was, though, that no one found out and she got back to her common room safely - after being stopped and getting put into a detention. I decided I was a bad influence on this little Hufflepuff girl in front of me, as I watched her messy scrawl (overcompensated with too much ink) dance across the page. I had this ridiculous desire to move and knot her tie for her, but she'd most definitely think I was creepy then, if she didn't think so already after last nights antics. After I'd literally invited her into my bed. Pressured her in breaking the rules, even though we only lost the argument under the technicality that she wasn't in her own bed, and she was in mine instead. Marie was not supposed to be here.

  
As we left, I decided that Marie resembled Rapunzel, a character from a muggle book I'd stolen from James, who'd stolen it from Lily. She was locked away in a tower until she was eighteen, her hair growing too long to maintain, probably herself growing too thin to be anywhere close to nourished. Marie wasn't nourished. Marie's hair was too long for her to cope with. Whenever I saw her, she seemed free, not locked away or hidden. Just then, I made the observation that her previously untied shoes weren't even on her feet anymore, her shirt completely un-tucked with a button missing at the bottom. "How..."  
"How, what?"  
"Never mind," I said, shaking my head. Upsetting her was the last thing I wanted to do. If I was going to manipulate this girl into being friends with me, I wasn't going to start by calling her a wreck. Marie placed her tiny body in front of me, as if she could actually physically stop me from going anywhere. I stopped for her sake, or maybe my own. "Please tell me." I raised my eyebrows, amused.   
"I wanted to know how you went into that classroom and came out even messier? Marie, it looks like we got up to a whole lot more than writing lines in there," I laughed as her features contorted.  
"You're disgusting."  
And that's how our friendship ended before it even started.

  
**Marie**  
Sirius Black was a pig. _It looks like we got up to a whole lot more than writing lines in there_. Who did he think he was? A privileged pure blood, is what. I caught myself before I went any further. From what I'd heard, Sirius was nowhere near privileged. A pure blood, maybe, but a disowned one at that. I refused to feel bad for him, storming away, gripping my shoes tightly in my left hand. Where did he get off, insinuating that we were more than what really met the eye. I guess, to him, what met the eye was my messy hair and lack of care for whether or not my shirt was tucked in. I did, however, care about the button that had fallen off at the bottom, but that was a whole other story.   
Instead of stopping at the barrels that marked then entrance to the Hufflepuff common room, I rioted past and pushed myself into the kitchens, after the elves had finished getting breakfast ready. "Is Miss Stewart hungry?" I swore that the house elves knew the names of the majority of my house; being next door to the kitchens, it was very easy for us to simply eat out feelings, which is exactly what I'd planned to do. I'd sacrificed my friendship with Laura to join in with those scoundrels and their illegal escapades. I knew better, now. 


	4. 4

Sirius  
At breakfast, the next day, I'd wanted to leave my table and talk to Marie, however odd it may have looked for a Gryffindor to just pop himself onto the end of the Hufflepuff table. Remus thought I was absolutely insane, hitting my upper arm with a book to stop my from leaving as Professor Dumbledore stood up to speak. I groaned and rolled my eyes, remaining in place and biting half of a sausage, which I'd impolitely stabbed in the middle with my fork; table etiquette at it's finest, am I right? "As a result of the antics of a few Gryffindor students," said the Headmaster, his scowl betrayed by the faint smile he'd failed to hide, "all students' beds will now be secured to the ground via a permanent sticking charm. Any attempts to override this authority will result in however many decisions we see fit. Parents will also be informed. Please continue as normal." I glanced over to Marie, finding her wild red curls amongst a sea of blondes and brunettes. Even if her hair didn't stand out, the rest of her would; her 'uniform' stuck out like a sore thumb against the immaculately pressed robes and perfectly knotted ties. I couldn't even see Marie's tie. I vaguely wondered about her family, thinking about where she'd gotten all of this... mess from. Surely, her parents couldn't have been exactly pristine, if their daughter was as haywire as this all of the time. Her utter disarray made me smile, as Remus rolled his eyes beside me and James nudged his shoulder with mine as his ridiculous crush walked past. Lily Evans. Neat. Tidy. Reliable. Too school for cool. Everything Marie wasn't; everything I never wanted Marie to be.  
Now, if you've ever briefly conversed with any of my friends, you'll know that I am most definitely not an apologetic person. You could even say that I'm somewhat apathetic towards most people, except maybe Severus Snape. I assuredly cared about his existence, in the manner that I very much so hoped that it would cease, if not for my sake, James'. He was going to get himself thrown out if they kept fighting. In resonance to this, James was more than a little bit shocked when I threw my parchment and quill onto the table later that day in Transfiguration, announcing that 'she' was mad at me. Generally, McGonagall ranted and raved about how it was a difficult and highly dangerous subject, so I could never understand why they made us do it on Friday mornings, while we were all grouchy and tired and not at all willing to conjure loud and annoying birds. "Who? The Stewart girl?"  
"The Stewart girl!" I cried, flailing my arms as dramatically as possible without falling off of my chair, thankful that Marie always managed to show up a minute or two late, looking as though she'd only just rolled out of bed even though we'd all seen her at breakfast, artfully disarranged as usual. "Why?"  
"I implied we had sex in McGonagall's classroom."  
"You did what?! Even I know that's a horrible thing to say to a girl and it's taken me six years to get Lily to even look at me!" I groaned and shrunk back into myself.  
"I was being funny," I tried to defend myself as Remus and Peter took the two seats in front of us, looking at me as though I'd lit my own hair on fire and asked them how cool they thought it looked. Not that that would ever happen, of course; my hair was far too precious to damage in any other manner than pulling, if you get the gist. "Funny?"  
"Yes!"  
"Get your head out of the clouds, mate. Merlin knows how you're going to fix this one. Or why you even want to. You've known her for like, what? Three days? Four?" I nodded my head and scowled, gripping my quill too tightly and trying to get my parchment to lay flat on the table - it was never going to happen. James nudged me as Marie stumbled into the room, one shoe in her hand, the other untied on her left foot. I could have sworn it was the wrong shoe; one day, that girl was going to seriously injure herself, either by standing on something while traipsing around the castle with nothing but dinosaur socks on her feet or by falling over the shoe laces she probably didn't know how to tie. "I'd like to know her for a lot longer."  
Marie  
I'd definitely eaten too much breakfast. Taking my spot at the back of the Transfiguration classroom, I groaned when I saw Sirius turn to look at me, his friend James nudging him. They were probably having a fantastic laugh, looking at the girl who couldn't figure out how to use her shoes properly. The girl who couldn't do up her tie. I could do up my tie, I just never wanted to. My stomach ached as I placed my quill and parchment on the desk in front of me. Being in lessons made me miss being a muggle, occasionally, especially while writing. These quills were essentially the fountain pens from Hell and trying to write on parchment was the bane of my existence, the fiery punishments in the depths of Lucifer's lair. I decided to bring my own pens and paper from home after Christmas, if not for the convenience, just to baffle pure-bloods. Like Sirius.  
Sirius.  
Being acquaintances with Sirius Black for four or so days hadn't actually been as bad as anticipated. I'd had... I'd had fun with him. Not the kind of fun that he'd implied had gone on in McGonagall's classroom (nothing of the sort happened... or ever would), but the kind of fun that stripped all of my stereotypical Hufflepuff values away. I wasn't polite or considerate or trying to please someone else. I was just Marie and, for a split second, I was a part of Sirius Black's band of delinquents (even if none of the teachers would actually accept that Remus Lupin, himself, was any kind of instigator in their antics). It was fun. But, as Laura kept reminding me, fun was not always good.  
Dinner, that night, was a lot worse than breakfast had been. I'd seen him looking at me. Sirius. Sirius had been watching me from the Gryffindor table, as if his friends stalking me hadn't been creepy enough. James Potter himself had pulled me aside after Potions to inform me that I was to, at all costs, avoid Sirius (well, all of them, really) and not attempt to make any kind of contact. I had the sudden urge to do it anyway. To send him a letter. A note. To meet him somewhere ludicrous during the night. The owlery. The astronomy tower. The kitchens.  
The black lake.


	5. 5

Marie  
Originally, I'd fully intended to write Sirius a note, asking him to meet me after hours to... to talk. I wanted to talk. To apologise for being so ridiculously sensitive. Maybe he hadn't been trying to imply that we were more than meagre acquaintances. After some thorough self inspection in the mirror, I concluded that he hadn't been wrong about me being a little messier than previously, upon exiting the classroom, and I'd found myself prone to staring at him during lessons and meal times (mostly because I knew I'd blown off on him for absolutely no reason whatsoever). In the end, after watching Laura glare at me for tossing wasted sheets of parchment around the room, I decided that he probably wasn't worth it anyway and got up from my bed, putting the book I'd used to lean on on the floor. Sometimes, I missed silly things from the muggle world like flat book surfaces, rather than these silly leather bound excuses, dents everywhere. I had at least four textbooks covered in indentations made from writing on parchment above it. I contemplated changing out of uniform and into something warmer but opted for pulling on a pair of grey tights under my skirt and a jumper under my robes instead of changing entirely.   
As I left my dormitory, I made yet another mental note of the fact that our door needed fixing desperately. Filch had been informed of how dysfunctional it was, barely sitting correctly in its frame. No kind of magic we'd tried on it, since first year, had done anything useful and even my dad's muggle remedies hadn't helped at all. I'd have to write him another letter about it, or ask him again when I went home for Christmas. I smiled as I thought about Christmas, at home with my family. My little brother was about to turn six, on boxing day, and he was adamant that I was going to bring him back some 'wizard sweets'. I stumbled over the doorway into the common room, too distracted thinking of Jamie to be paying attention to where I was going. I blushed, furiously, though I knew no one in here would care enough to make fun of me; it just wasn't how we were, as a house. Generally, there were always a few exceptions in each house. A cowardly Gryffindor - even worse, a sensible Gryffindor. A kind Slytherin. A Ravenclaw with no common sense. A bitchy Hufflepuff. Thankfully, our exceptions were nowhere to be seen.  
I decided that I didn't want to wear my shoes, at last minute, realising that there would be hardly anyone outside of their common rooms at this time. It was already past ten (I'd told Laura I was heading to the kitchens, since they were right next door) so most students - most - would be rushing back to their dormitories to avoid detentions. I dropped the small, typical British 'school shoes' at the entrance of the common room as I left as quickly as possible. I silently hoped that someone would steal them, not overly fond of the idea of having to put them back on for classes in the morning, but I knew that no one would touch them. Firstly because I was in Hufflepuff, and secondly because everyone bar a few first years knew that they'd be mine. It crossed my mind that the castle floors were freezing cold at this time of year and that I was going outside, where it was likely to be much colder, but I neglected the shoes anyway. I didn't need them.  
I passed many frantic first years, on my way out into the courtyard. My goal was to get to the black lake and back by myself, but I wouldn't have been surprised to wake up under a tree somewhere the next morning, having been dragged off into the Forbidden Forest by something I wouldn't want to talk about in the morning. I groaned to myself, watching my toe push itself out of a little hole in the foot of my tights, feeling the fabric at my heel getting thinner and more worn with each step across the paved flooring, still on my way to the lake. My mum hated it when I'd walk home from primary school without my shoes on, my socks always having been white, pristine pressed frilly ankle socks when I'd left the house, and half grey, half black mangled and holey 'ankle socks' when I entered it - they were ten times worse if it had been raining. I smiled, remembering how my dad had always stuck up for me. Oh she's only little. Mum had always had a go, saying I'd negatively influence Jamie. Negative influence.  
Sirius. Sirius Black was a negative influence.   
But in a nice way.  
Sirius  
Nights before the full moon were almost harder than the full moon itself. Remus was always tired, always scared, on the night before, even more so than the night of. We'd sit with him on these nights. All of us. We'd all pile into his bed, even Peter sitting on the end looking over at this little ball of James, Remus and I, Remus in the middle sunk into the sheets. He was like a little boy tonight, one that we needed to comfort, and some people might have found it annoying that a fifteen year old boy needed fuzzy socks and cuddles and an extra hot chocolate once a month, as if he were on his period as it were, but we understood the necessity. For all intents and purposes, Remus Lupin was a werewolf, but he was still our best friend no matter how monstrous he may have thought he was.  
James and I had spent years stealing notes from McGonagall, living vicariously through Remus' antics as we were too busy in detentions to help him, all to figure out how to become an animagus (unregistered, no less). We were possibly the most illegal students in this castle, and I knew for a fact that there were a few Dark Lord supporters floating around. "What if I hurt somebody?" I rolled my eyes,shifting my entire body to face Remus. I felt as though himself, James and I had had an awkward threesome and now we were trying out the whole pillow talk thing, but with three of us instead of two. "Have you ever hurt somebody before?"  
"No, but what if I do."  
"Then you're a wanker and we'll look after them. And you. Okay?" Remus sighed as my owl appeared, placing himself on my lap. He wasn't a very clever little thing but he definitely got the job done. Reading the little messily scrawled note, I looked up at my friends with worry washing all over my face. "Guys, we've got a problem?"  
"A furry problem?" Why did James insist on calling it that?  
"No, a regular one. Maybe worse."


	6. 6

Sirius  
"We've never done it without you!" James raged, the small piece of parchment I'd received clenched in his fist. I wanted to tell him he was damaging it, that I'd like him to open it out and smooth it down and give it back, but he'd get mad at me. Or laugh. Or both. You're too far gone, now, Sirius. I rolled my eyes and sat down, trying to play this off as something silly. "He was doing this for ages without us before. You'll all be fine."  
"Yeah, and he ripped the shit out of himself every single time. You've seen the injuries," he seethed, as Remus rolled over in his bed and pretended he wasn't listening. He knew we could tell he was still awake. I winced, trying to figure out what I was supposed to do. If I turned her down, Marie that is, my chances of making friends with her were over. This was my second chance, and you never really heard of third chances; I was lucky to be getting this one. But if I left James and Peter with Remus, who knew what was going to happen. I trusted them, and they knew that - Remus knew that - but Remus needed to trust himself and, until he did, he needed all three of us there to maximise his moral support. "He'll be fine. You and Peter'll be there."  
"Yeah, and Peter's going to be a great help isn't he?! He's a rat, Sirius! Remus barely notices him!" He was also sitting right there. I clenched my jaw, angrily, even though I knew he was right. James Potter was always right, even when he was wrong. I couldn't go to see Marie, no matter how much I wanted to. She wanted to apologise for 'overreacting', even though she and I both knew I shouldn't have said what I did. Not after that little time of knowing her - she wasn't quite used to me yet. "It'll only be for one night..."  
"The most important night of the month, Sirius. You're not going."   
Marie  
I'd written him the note. After realising I was capable of getting back to the castle by myself (even in the dark), I also realised that I didn't particularly want to do it by myself and I knew that there was no way Laura would ever want to accompany me. It hadn't crossed my mind when I'd sent it, last night, that he'd not respond or show up. I'd just assumed that he would... because I would. But Sirius Black wasn't me. We weren't even similar, really, were we? He was a Gryffindor, and I was a Hufflepuff. I hadn't quite understood how shameful that was seen to be until my third week of first year, when some Ravenclaw students implied that I was thick. A sixth year from my house had had to explain to me the ridiculous stereotypes that people held against each house, since I was a muggle born with no kind of guidance. At least when (if?) my little brother received his Hogwarts letter, he'd have me to explain to him what was going to happen; I hoped he'd be in Hufflepuff, but he was already showing signs of being in Gryffindor. Gryffindor, where the students were courageous and... well funny, really. Like Sirius. Not like me.  
It had been silly of me to think he'd actually come, given our differences and the fact that we barely knew each other. Maybe that was why I wanted him to show; we barely knew each other, and maybe I wanted us to get... closer? All I'd heard of this mysterious delinquent was his occasional commentating of quidditch matches, frequently criticising my best friend Laura until she cried after her matches, thinking she was inadequate. He only does it to put her off balance, so Hufflepuff lose. His voice was off-putting, I'd found a short while ago. I found myself avoiding matches that I knew he'd be commentating, wanting to actually be able to concentrate.  
I did not have a crush on Sirius Black.  
As that thought crossed my mind, I sat down on the grass, pulling my grey school tights further up my legs. My toes were wet from walking around outside with no shoes on, as I'd done yesterday while thinking about what to write to Sirius. It was funny how students still sent owls to each other, rather than just talking face to face considering we all lived in the same building and never left for any period of time, other than during the holidays. I groaned, watching the sun fully go down, realising just how stupid of me it had actually been to send Sirius that note, asking him to meet me. I'd wanted to apologise for being so ridiculous. His implications were an innocent joke; I understood now, but hadn't when it was quite clearly important. Why would Sirius Black want to be friends with me anyway? He only spoke to me that first time because he felt sorry for me, the second to tease me and a few other times to involve me in his antics (mostly because I'd accidentally given him the idea). We weren't friends - I bet he didn't even like me, at this point. I was trying for nothing.   
As soon as the thought of giving up had crossed my mind, it was on top of me. It. I didn't know what it was. It wasn't... couldn't be any kind of dog that I'd seen before and certainly not anything you'd find in the muggle world (for which, I was thankful). I was frozen in place, my vision distorted my the thick saliva that had dripped onto my face. From what I could tell, its snout was too short to be anything of a well known species, its eyes an odd shape. I could only breathe through my nose, my jaw involuntarily glued shut, possibly due to the excessive beating of my heart, making my limbs too heavy to move. I swore I'd gone deaf. What kind of creature... of this manner... wouldn't make a noise? Why wasn't I screaming? I can't. As soon as it was on me, it was gone, replaced by a large (in relative to myself - I wasn't a very big person) black animal, more definitive as a dog than the last one. That was gone quickly, too. If not quicker. I tried to scramble to my feet, only stumbling back down onto the grass, my hair wet from laying down. I glanced up in my panic, rubbing vile liquid from my eyes, to see the two animals fighting. I didn't stay long enough to see who won.


End file.
